1. Code of the Extraordinary Mind by Vishen Lakhiani 

 

The Code of the Extraordinary Mind was literally a pivotal book for me, it changed my life. Sound dramatic? It was. The concepts explored in the book made  me reconsider my values and beliefs so deeply, I'm still working on some of this stuff.

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It contains ways of overcoming the madness of everyday life, to stand out from the crowd and become an extraordinary individual. Vishen lays down 10 laws that anyone can easily follow to experience a radical transformation and find meaning and happiness in each day. The most powerful concept to me was the idea of BRULES. What if everything we think we know about how the world works - our ideas of love, education, spirituality, work, happiness, and love - are based on brules (bullsh*t rules) that get passed from generation to generation and are long past their expiration date? This book teaches you to think like some of the greatest nonconformist minds of our era, to question, challenge, hack, and create new rules for your life so you can define success on your own terms.
 

Vishen's 10 Laws of an Extraordinary Life fuses cutting-edge ideas, personal stories, irreverence, and his brilliant teaching style sharing 10 powerful laws that form a step-by-step process that you can apply to life to shed years of struggle and elevate yourself to exceptional new heights. He challenges conventional ideas of relationships, goal setting, mindfulness, happiness, and meaning. He combines new thinking with personal growth to provide a powerful framework for recoding yourself and replacing old, limiting models that hold you back with new, empowering beliefs and behaviors that set you on the path toward an extraordinary life - a life of more happiness and achievement than you might have dared to dream possible. 

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I highly recommend reading this book and taking your time to work through each chapter,, pausing where necessary to absorb and process the learnings. It's a book I return to often and it is still influencing my thinking day to day. 

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2. Ikigai - the Japanese secret of a long and happy life by Hector Garcia & Francesc Miralles

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This is a little book with powerful messages. The Japanese secret to a long and happy life. 

The people of Japan believe that everyone has an ikigai - a reason to jump out of bed each morning. And according to the residents of the Japanese island of Okinawa - the world's longest-living people - finding it is the key to a longer and more fulfilled life.

I found this book a sensational read, inspiring and comforting, it will give you the life-changing tools to uncover your personal ikigai. It will show you how to leave urgency behind, find your purpose, nurture friendships and throw yourself into your passions. Bring meaning and joy to your every day with ikigai.

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The Ikigai Journey - a second book that has practical tools and templates to help you find your ikigai... just working through this one myself... very cool.  

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3. Kintsugi Wellness by Candice Kumai

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I am loving this book and the journey that Candice takes us on. There are so many great lessons as well as a whole heap of recipes and wellbeing tips that are well worth a look. Her premise: where we come from is who we are. Candice's Japanese heritage guided her journey back to health and she instills a sense of calm through each part of her story, beginning with the understanding of Kintsugi - the art of repairing with gold - she uses this analogy for us to consider that even with all of our flaws and scars, our imperfections give us a new beauty that is ours and ours alone.

 

Nurturing ourselves, mind, body and soul, is her message to grow with pride from our life lessons and the scars that make us so unique.  Candice shares her favourite Japanese traditions and practices for cultivating inner strength and living a gracious life, with dozens of recipes for healthy, Japanese-inspired cuisine. I found this read so nourishing and comforting and was the inspiration for part of my STICKY goals model.  

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4. Phosphorescence by Julia Baird

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When I first started reading this beautiful book, I felt I'd met a kindred spirit. Julia is a daily ocean swimmer at Bronte, down in Sydney. Her book talks about the amassing research that shows how important it is to bathe ourselves in nature as much as we can to reduce stress and to ground us.  It is a beautiful, intimate and inspiring investigation into how we can find and nurture within ourselves that essential quality of internal happiness - the 'light within' that Julia Baird calls 'phosphorescence' - which can sustain us even through the darkest times.

"Over the last decade, we have become better at knowing what brings us contentment, well-being and joy. We know, for example, that there are a few core truths to science of happiness. We know that being kind and altruistic makes us happy, that turning off devices, talking to people, forging relationships, living with meaning and delving into the concerns of others offer our best chance at achieving happiness. But how do we retain happiness? It often slips out of our hands as quickly as we find it. So, when we are exposed to, or learn, good things, how do we continue to burn with them?

And more than that, when our world goes dark, when we're overwhelmed by illness or heartbreak, loss or pain, how do we survive, stay alive or even bloom? In the muck and grit of a daily existence full of disappointments and a disturbing lack of control over many of the things that matter most - finite relationships, fragile health, fraying economies, a planet in peril - how do we find, nurture and carry our own inner, living light - a light to ward off the darkness?"
 

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5. The 4-Hour Work Week by Tim Ferriss

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This book inspired me to think differently about how I perceive success and also sparked my interest in creating a life that is truly mine. It is perfect for small business owners and entrepreneurial spirits. It inspires you to create a lifestyle business, rather than building your life around a business that sucks the life out of you! 

 

Here is the extract from Booktopia for you...

 

"Forget the old concept of retirement and the rest of the deferred-life plan - there is no need to wait and every reason not to, especially in unpredictable economic times. Whether your dream is escaping the rat race, experiencing high-end world travel, earning a monthly five-figure income with zero management, or just living more and working less, this book is the blueprint.

This step-by step guide to luxury lifestyle design teaches:
* How Tim went from $40,000 dollars per year and 80 hours per week to $40,000 per MONTH and 4 hours per week
* How to outsource your life to overseas virtual assistants for $5 per hour and do whatever you want
* How blue-chip escape artists travel the world without quitting their jobs
* How to eliminate 50% of your work in 48 hours using the principles of a forgotten Italian economist
* How to trade a long-haul career for short work bursts and frequent 'mini-retirements'.

This new expanded version includes:

More than 50 practical tips and case studies from readers (including families) who have doubled their income, overcome common sticking points, and reinvented themselves using the original book as a starting point * Real-world templates you can copy for eliminating email, negotiating with bosses and clients, or getting a private chef for less than £5 a meal * How lifestyle design principles can be suited to unpredictable economic times * The latest tools and tricks, as well as high-tech shortcuts, for living like a diplomat or millionaire without being either.
 

Well worth a read!

 

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6. Chillpreneur by Denise Duffield-Thomas

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I must admit to you that I had a real block around Denise for the last 7 years. It wasn't until she launched Chillpreneur that I started to sit up and take notice and realised she really was talking my language. Her first book, Get Rich Lucky Bitch made me squirm. It grated so strongly on my belief that we don't get rich because we're lucky but because (I believed) we had to work our arses off in order to earn money and success. In fact I was so averse to hearing what Denise had to say, I left her program, Money Boot Camp (that I'd received as part of my B School enrolment) on the shelf for the last 7 years. I truly had (and still have) a lot of work to do with my money mindset. Check out the Booktopia review below for more info. It's very much worth a read if you feel you have money blocks and want to set your business and life on fire when it comes to abundance. 

 

You might be scrolling through Instagram, seeing bloggers lounging on a beach with their laptop and thinking ... why isn't that me? Well, probably because you're letting negative money beliefs hold you back.

Denise Duffield-Thomas made herself a millionaire by helping women realise that they could manifest anything they dreamed of if they took consistent action. In Chillpreneur, she teaches women how to align their goals with the universe and earn six figures (or more!) without losing their minds! In this book, you'll learn:

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• How to find your true calling instead of jumping on the first 'good idea? you get

• Why caring is such a huge part of being a successful (and happy) entrepreneur

• How to quit procrastinating and get stuff done

• How to let go of the guilt you have around money and accept that you deserve to be a kickass, successful businesswoman

 

Through exercises and real-life stories, Denise shows you how to avoid making the (many) mistakes she and other women have made, how to boost your confidence and smash through your money blocks, and start making your business dreams a reality. Unlike her previous books, this title is full of practical advice about taxes, pricing, converting, and making it to the top- and it will make you laugh out loud.Being a Chillpreneur isn't about being at the beach all day-it's about finding the path of least resistance to fabulous money. It's about taking a relaxed, imperfect approach and giving yourself permission to find the shortcuts for minimum effort and maximum results. It's about making twice the money for half the work. 

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7. The 5AM CLUB by Robin Sharma

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The 5am Club is a concept developed over twenty years ago, based on a revolutionary morning routine that has helped Robin's clients maximize their productivity, activate their best health and bulletproof their serenity in this age of overwhelming complexity.

The book talks throough how an early-rising habit that has helped so many accomplish epic results while upgrading their happiness, helpfulness and feelings of aliveness.

Through an enchanting-and often amusing-story about two struggling strangers who meet an eccentric tycoon who becomes their secret mentor, The 5am Club will walk you through:

• How great geniuses, business titans and the world's wisest people start their mornings to produce astonishing achievements
• A little-known formula you can use instantly to wake up early feeling inspired, focused and flooded with a fiery drive to get the most out of each day
• A step-by-step method to protect the quietest hours of daybreak so you have time for exercise, self-renewal and personal growth
• A neuroscience-based practice proven to help make it easy to rise while most people are sleeping, giving you precious time for yourself to think, express your creativity and begin the day peacefully instead of being rushed
• ‘Insider-only' tactics to defend your gifts, talents and dreams against digital distraction and trivial diversions so you enjoy fortune, influence and a magnificent impact on the world

Part manifesto for mastery, part playbook for genius-grade productivity and part companion for a life lived beautifully, The 5am Club is a work that will transform your life. Forever.